Steven J. Heine - Your Brain on Existential Anxiety: Why We Struggle to Find Meaning | STM #229
Release Date: 02/09/2025
Gail Straub - She Traveled the World and Realized This About Humanity | STM Podcast #256
Seize the Moment Podcast
On episode 256, we welcome Gail Straub to discuss her work empowering women across the globe, being a civilian diplomat, not being taken seriously in Russia as an American Marxist, lessons about inner strength from traversing the Himalayan mountains, the complexity of political activism in China, diversity as a core component of peace, the elements of human nature uniting all of us, and what instills hope in Gail for our collective future. Gail Straub is the author of eight books, including the best-selling Empowerment, The Rhythm of Compassion, and her feminist memoir Returning to My...
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Jonathan Vigliotti - Who Failed Los Angeles? The Real Story Behind the Fire” | STM Podcast #255
Seize the Moment Podcast
On episode 255, we welcome Jonathan Vigliotti to discuss the 2025 Palisades Fire, the systemic failures that caused and maintained it, the ethics of hiring private fire brigades, how climate change influenced the fire, the political neglect and flawed reasoning around effective management, fire safety standards as the bare minimum, bureaucratic collapse, Mayor Karen Bass’s mistakes, incentivizing politicians to take natural disasters more seriously, the role of the 2028 Olympics in diverting attention, and problem of problem solving without accountability. Jonathan Vigliotti is an Emmy and...
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Aaron Poochigian - Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations: Philosophy as Psychological Training | STM #254
Seize the Moment Podcast
On episode 254, we welcome Aaron Poochigian to discuss his new translation of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, Aaron’s struggles with addiction and how the book helped him in recovery, suffering as stemming from interpretations of rather than facts about the world, meaning as stemming from virtue rather than reputation, learning to accept all of nature to manage suffering, applying the concept of ‘strange beauty’ to discover it everywhere, and the psychotherapeutic elements of Stoic philosophy. Aaron Poochigian is a poet, classics scholar, and translator who lives and writes in New York...
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Christopher Mathias - The Fascists Next Door — And How They’re Exposed | STM Podcast #253
Seize the Moment Podcast
On episode 253, we welcome Christopher Mathias to discuss the meaning of fascism and what ANTIFA is, fascism’s ideological roots in greed and domination, the Charlottesville protests, fascist masking and the threat of being charmed by appearances, whether we owe it to fascism to allow for open debates, whether fascists care about finding the truth, if it’s possible to differentiate between conservatives and fascists at this point, and why members of ANTIFA would disagree with being labeled extremists. Christopher Mathias is a journalist covering the far right. Previously a senior reporter...
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Benjamin A. Saltzman - Why Turning Away Might Be an Ethical Act | STM Podcast #252
Seize the Moment Podcast
On episode 252, welcome Benjamin Saltzman to discuss the gesture of turning away, the shame and grief behind it, how it became a moral topic, turning away in art and Timanthes’s lost painting of Agamemnon, Plato’s tripartite concept of the soul and turning away as a mark of confusion, rigidity and steadfastness as signs of courage and character, cognitive flexibility and knowing when to turn away, Hannah Arendt and misinterpreting averted gazes as the foundation of totalitarianism, and understanding aversion without its moral trappings. Benjamin A. Saltzman is associate professor of...
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Patricia Martin - Who Are We Becoming? Identity in the Internet Age | STM Podcast #251
Seize the Moment Podcast
On episode 251, we welcome Patricia Martin to discuss identity formation in the modern world, our preoccupation with external validation and why it’s unsustainable in the internet age, Carl Jung’s understanding of the persona and our tendency to perform, the persona and chronic self-doubt, socially prescribed perfectionism and the fog of self, physical practices to re-center oneself, and the importance of cultivating meaning for identity integration. Patricia Martin is the author of four books, a researcher, and speaker. Her work has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Huffington...
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Amy Nathan - The Untold Story of Civil Rights Icon Sara Keyes Evans | STM Podcast #250
Seize the Moment Podcast
On episode 250, we welcome Amy Nathan to discuss civil rights icon Sara Keyes Evans, her own decision to not move to the back of a bus, the decades long legal battle that followed, the battle between federal and state laws regarding interstate travel for minorities, Sara’s more measured and less aggressive stance on social justice, the values and temperament that were the foundation of her brand of activism, why she was unrecognized for so long, and what inspired her tenancy to fight racism. Amy Nathan is the author of more than fifteen books, including Together: An Inspiring Response...
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Jack El-Hai - Were the Nazis Insane? The Psychiatrist Who Studied Hitler’s Inner Circle | STM Podcast #249
Seize the Moment Podcast
On episode 249, we welcome Jack El-Hai to discuss the Nuremberg trials and the recent film about them, the psychiatrist who analyzed Hermann Göring, Dr. Douglas Kelley’s motivations for doing so, whether Nazis were monsters and if being human makes them scarier, how the results of Göring’s Rorschach test reveled a narcissistic personality, the foundation of evil, Kelley’s stifled ambitions and why his social contributions make his work meaningful, and the warnings in ‘Nuremberg’ about our political future. Jack El-Hai is an acclaimed author and journalist whose writing has appeared...
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Dorothy Roberts - Interracial Marriage Is an Important Step to Ending Racial Inequality | STM #248
Seize the Moment Podcast
On episode 248, we welcome Dorothy Roberts to discuss the history of interracial marriage in the US, how it was used to help sustain Black slavery, Dorothy’s resistance to and eventual acceptance of being biracial, her disagreements with her father (a fellow researcher) on the benefits of interracial marriages, defining race and why Nazis and white supremacists both struggled to define whiteness, whether love can overcome social injustice on its own, the Black Belt being populated with whites, and how culture and power influence whom we feel attracted to and love. Dorothy Roberts...
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Lybi Ma -The Mental Habits Keeping You Miserable (And How to Stop Them) | STM Podcast #247
Seize the Moment Podcast
On episode 247, we welcome Lybi Ma to discuss the thought patterns we get trapped in, the differences between ruminating and deliberating, why avoiding and suppressing our emotions can make them feel more intense, challenging the negative narratives we create about our lives, why our brains are programmed for survival rather than happiness, why Freud was right, spotting cognitive distortions, the importance of mindfulness and gratitude, Lybi’s divorce and how she overcame resentment and bitterness, how anxiety affects our bodies, and the importance of perceiving satisfaction as stemming...
info_outlineOn episode 229, we welcome Steven Heine to discuss his research in existential psychology, humans as meaning-making creatures, existential crises as crises of meaning, the importance of story-telling in cultivating a deeper sense of purpose, cultural differences in meaning and our innate desire to contribute to our cultures, terror-management theory, Nietzsche’s nobleman and action vs reaction, tribalism in meaning-making, the importance of gratitude, and healthy ways to cope with death anxiety.
Steven J. Heine is distinguished university scholar and professor of social and cultural psychology at the University of British Columbia. He is the author of Cultural Psychology, the top-selling textbook in the field, and his research has been covered in outlets like the New York Times, Washington Post, Guardian, Newsweek, and New Scientist. His newest book, available now, is called Start Making Sense: How Existential Psychology Can Help Us Build Meaningful Lives in Absurd Times.
| Steven J. Heine |
► Website | https://psych.ubc.ca/profile/steven-heine
► Psychology Today | https://bit.ly/3CLtuhA
► Start Making Sense Book | https://amzn.to/3ErQIKf
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